Poetry 201

Like all of us, at one time or another, I have gone through some "dark times" in my life. They are never fun. If I had my druthers, we’d never have to go through them; but alas, that is not for me to say. Still, I’ve never known them to "last forever", though at times it does seem that they do.

Recently, I found myself going through another dark time. Unlike many other ones, I had been ‘dabbling’ with my poetry and managed to ‘ink-out’ a few verses. Some are "unfinished", though perhaps they really are and I just don’t realize it.

I have decided to share some of them because what good are any creative works (paintings, photographs, writings, etc.) if they are never seen/read/heard by anyone? I’m not trying to elicit sympathy, but then again, I’m not going to tell you what you should (or should not) feel either.

Some of them are, I think, some of my better work...

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"Dreams"

A long time ago, at least so it seems,
I used to have goals, I used to have dreams.
But one by one they have all disappeared;
They just seemed to have vanished, it's really quite weird.

I'm not sure I know just when it did happen,
Most likely real slow, over years, I imagine.
But one thing's for sure, at it really is so,
I've no more dreams, by which I can go.

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"My Heart is Broken" (Unfinished?)

My heart is broken. My spirit is crushed. My dreams are shattered. I am a broken man.

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"Heartache Surrounds Me" (Unfinished?)

Heartache surrounds me; sorrow fills my nights; and my days are long, indeed.
For she whom I have feelings for has cause my soul to bleed.

She said she cared, but I can't recall any actions by her that show
To me her words were true; instead her actions say it's not so.

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"Will My Heart Ever Learn to Love Again?" (Unfinished?)

Will my heart ever learn to love again? Will joy return to my soul?
These questions I ask with sincerity; for truly, I do not know.

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"Doomed"

How does it feel to be doomed by love? How does it feel to be cursed?
For love unrequited is truly just that; It's the one thing that truly is worst.

It's a hole in one's heart, an ache in one's soul, a longing that goes unfulfilled;
A desire unanswered; no joy can be found. Many poets have this subject quilled.

All of my life, I too, have been cursed; for no other love have I known.
First-hand do I know how gut-wrenching it is to always find oneself alone.

Now and then I will meet someone nice who I think may finally come liberate me;
But "I don't like you 'that' way." is what they all say, then they turn and away from me flee.

So I'm left here alone with my broken heart, and a spirit so totally crushed,
That oft do I doubt that they'll ever be fixed and never again will I trust.

So doomed I am, and I guess doomed I'll be, until, perhaps, one day I find
That one certain girl, whomever she is, who'll allow our two hearts to bind.

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"Shattered Dreams" (Unfinished)

Shattered dreams, broken heart;
What's a poor boy like me to do?
"All is a stage, we each play a part",
But what mine is, I haven't a clue.

I ache, I pine, I thoroughly hurt;
And I can't seem to do anything right.
I feel miserable, worthless, lower than dirt.
I seem to have lost my will to fight.

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"Dark are my thoughts"

Dark are my thoughts. Oh, how I wish they were not - but they are.
Heartache fills my soul. Oh, how I wish it did not - but it does.
My spirit cries-out. Oh, how I wish I had an answer - but I don't.
I am lost. Oh, how I wish I were not - but I am.

Woe, is me. Woe, is me. I have no solace; I have no comfort; I have no joy. Oh, how I wish that I did - but I do not.

"If only...", my head thinks. "If only...", my heart cries. "If only...", my spirit says. "If only...", my soul prays.

"If only..."

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"Doomed" is my favorite.

Poetry 101

So I can hear some of you now..."Hey, Tuba! Does your post title mean you're gong to teach us how to write poetry?" But I'm afraid the answer to that question is "No."

Then again, you might learn something, but not because I'm actively trying to teach anything.

So now I can hear some of you ask, "So what's with the post title then?" And the answer to that is "Because it sounded good."

I've shared a poem or two before here, and I will again, I'm sure. I have a few pieces that I'll share later - they are dark pieces, but I think some of my better work. For now, though, I'll share some things I wrote while just goofing around.

But first, a little background. Yes, I can actually write poems. I can actually write, period. I'm not trying to "toot my own horn" (no pun regarding Tubas intended) here, but I can write rather well. Trouble is, I don't necessarily like to write. While I did well in Grade School and High School English, and my essays (as far as I can remember) always received "A's" (there may have been a "B+" or two, but really I don't remember), I hated writing essays. In fact, I'm the reason why the rules were changed, regarding homework.

Hmmm...that will need a little explaining as well...pardon the "flashback"...

Since 4th grade, I attended a Christian school. Back in the 70's (yes, unfortunately, I am that old), there was a huge Christian school movement - Public schools were seen as appalling learning institution, and truth is, many of them were (and still are, regrettably). In 3rd grade, I was bored out of my mind because I was forced to learn at the rest of the classes pace. I loved math; fortunately for me, my teacher saw this and allowed me to work through a section that the rest of the class "skipped" because they wouldn't have time to go through it (for though curious, it was geometry). So I was able to keep busy (and not be bored) working at my own pace, which was rather quickly.

Ok, 'flashforward' to the next year...my dad's church started a Christian school, based on the rather newly developed Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) system (by 'Southern-Baptists'). In that system, the four major subjects (Math, Science, Social Studies [which includes all types of history], and English) were provided in several booklets called "PACEs" (which I think stood for "Packets of Accelerated Christian Education", but I could be wrong). These PACEs were basically a self-contained combination of a textbook and workbook; one sat at one's own cubicle (with little side walls, so you didn't disturb the person next to you, and a back wall made of a "pin-up" material that could have things thumb-tacked [or push-pinned] to it), reading and working at your own pace (no pun intended there either). There were teachers there who would answer questions or try to further explain things, if one had any questions or such.

The PACEs had little quiz portions that tested your knowledge of the previous section (called "Check-ups") and you had to "pass" each check-up before you could proceed - if you failed the check-up, you had to do the previous section over again. At the end of the PACE was a "self-test" that tested your knowledge of the entire PACE. After that, you turned-in your PACE and took a "final" test the next day. If you failed either the "self-test" or the "final" test, you had to retake the entire PACE.

Each grade was broken down into 12-PACEs per subject. That is, if you worked through 12-PACEs of Math, you had completed one grade's worth of Math. The PACEs were numbered 1 to 144 - 144 being the 'last' PACE for a Senior in High School (though I believe they did have higher numbers to work in, and I don't believe you had to finish "144" to graduate).

Some people HATED that format of school - I THRIVED on it. I could work as much as I liked in one subject and not so much in others. In fact, originally, the only rule was that you had to do at least 12-pages of work a day. Actually, there were two rules - the other being that you had to set a daily "goal" of how much work you would do, and then do that amount - if you "missed" your goal for one day, you had to make up for it the next day. So, if your goal one day was to do 4 pages of each subject (totaling 16) and you only did three in Math, you had to do "5" pages the next day.

Of course, if you were smart (like I was), you NEVER set your goal to be greater than the minimum, even though you may exceed them. Most of the time, I exceeded my goals, but occasionally, I just did the minimum and goofed-off the rest of the day.

For several years, the rule was "12-pages per day" and that's it. Then one day in the early second quarter of 7th grade (I think), I got an English PACE that required us to write an essay - we had to pick a subject, do research, take notes, write a rough draft, and write a final draft.

As I stated before, I HATED writing back in school. So, me being me, I didn't want to do, so I didn't. I followed the rules and did 12-pages per day, just ZERO in English. I got away with this for the entire quarter and part of the next before the teachers noticed I had not completed and English PACE in literally months. (Side note: we had a chart that was pinned to the back wall that showed your progress. It was broken down into quarters and sub-divided into weeks, with each subject having it's own row - every time you passed a PACE, you got a colored star to post on it).

That's when they changed the rule from "12-pages per day" to "4-pages, per subject, per day". They then added another rule shortly thereafter which mandated that you had to complete at least 3 PACEs per quarter - I don't think I was directly responsible for that one.

OK - done with the flashback (my apologies for it's length). Where was I? Oh, yes...

While I never really liked writing, as I said, I'm actually pretty good at it. These days, most of my writing is for work, where I write proposals, technical memos, letters, (regular) memos. etc. And until recently (in the last couple of years, or so), I had not written any poetry or much of anything else for that matter, except work-related stuff.

But since about 2000 (has it really need that long??), I've been "dabbling" here and there. And what follows is a few different styles that I sat-down and wrote out one evening (though I'm sure I 'tweaked' them over the next few days). Just a bit of fun to get started.

Often, you see poetry written "left-justified", but you also see it "center-justified". I've presented mine "center-justified" here to make it stand-out from the "commentary" and remainder of the post. Usually, this is when I see poetry "center-justified" - when it is 'embedded' within other text.

Enjoy!

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Poetry



I am sometimes inspired to write,
And of poems I know different styles.
Still, practice is needed in spite
Of talent; oft do I leave behind piles.

For meter and rhyme can be hard
To maintain in a complex creation.
And often the reader must 'pard'
The 'license' a writer has taken.

But I'll not ask forgiveness for this,
It is simply the way it is done;
Though sometimes things do go amiss,
The process can really be fun!

So don't fear to try your hand
Writing a poem, a limerick, or verse;
Just remember at times it is grand,
And other times it could be worse.


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Limericks can also be fun,
But meter's important in one.
Oh can't you see,
That rhythm is key;
And then with the fifth line, you're done!


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Haikus can be hard;
Three lines with 5, 7, 5
Syllables per line.

Related must be
All three lines in a haiku,
And they seldom rhyme.

They often express,
Within the three lines of verse,
Abstract ideas.


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Alliteration also advises an alert awareness, as all arranged alphas are actually alike.


(which is to say, in pure alliteration, all words start with the same letter, though it is permissible to have some variation)

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Then, of course, 'prose' is basically telling a story
But when it is arranged like a poem
That is, separated into lines (like this),
It is often called 'poetry'
Even though, in my opinion, it really isn't.


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Well, of all of the style presented here, I'd have to say that alliteration is the hardest to do (properly, anyway). I've not done any "sonnets", as I need to work on my iambic pentameter.

That's all for now. Now, go make some of your own poetry.